Goa anti-mining activist battles defamation suit

IANS

1st February 2009

PANAJI - Practically speaking, a cheque for Rs 5,014 stands no chance against a Rs 5 billion defamation suit. But for anti-mining activist Sebastian Rodrigues, it's a beginning of sorts.

Sebastian, who's been furiously blogging against the ravages of rampant mining in the less-glamorous locales of Goa, now finds himself slapped with Rs 5 billion criminal defamation suit by Fomento group of industries for "publishing false and defamatory articles" on his blog against the company's mining operations.

Interestingly, the criminal defamation suit, which objects to Sebastian's writings on mining-related ravages in Goa, has been filed in the Kolkata High Court.

The suit charges the 30-something Sebastian with posting "cooked up, false, incorrect and fabricated" articles on his blog, which are reported to have caused "irreparable damage to the plaintiff's business".

"Sebastian has for quite some time been creating unwanted unwarranted obstruction to the smooth functioning of the plaintiff at Colomba and Advalpal mines," the mining firm has argued in its plaint.

The suit further charges Sebastian with publishing "wholly false and grossly defamatory statements which are being made/published with the object to maligning and vilifying the plaintiff in the eyes of general public."

Sebastian, who has also worked as an activist in rural Jharkhand, has now emerged as the face of the growing anti-mining sentiment in the state. Other anti-mining activists and a significant section of Goa's burgeoning number of social activists have begun to line up behind Sebastian, also nicknamed Naxalite.

The Rs.5,014 cheque was the first contribution made towards Sebastian's judicial expense kitty by noted Goan artist Venantius Pinto.

"Advocate Norma Alvares is helping me handle the defamation case," the lanky Sebastian, slouching in his trademark crumpled black T- shirt and loose pants, said. Alvares is a recent recipient of the Padma Shri award for her contribution in the human rights and social activism sphere.

As the cheques begin to trickle in, the well-networked NGO circuit in Goa recently witnessed a hectic round of solidarity meetings in Sebastian's favour, with nearly every activist worth his or her salt dropping by to make an appearance.

Human rights activist Durgadas Gaonkar said: "Such defamations suits would not deter anti-mining activism. Seby's blog talks about the ground reality of rural Goa, which is in disarray because of rampant illegal mining by most mining firms.

"Farm lands are being layered with mining slush, making agriculture virtually impossible. We can give you hundreds of examples where people have had to relocate more than three times, as their houses developed cracks because of blasting in the mines, which keep exceeding their perimeter."

Goa Su-Raj Party president Floriano Lobo said the Fomento Group of Industries' move to file a suit in Kolkata was mischievous. "Their vice president Corporate Communications, Sujay Gupta, who has filed the suit, has his residence in Moira, Goa, a few houses away from mine.

And yet he has sworn on affidavit in the Kolkata High Court that he resides in Kolkata! This is nothing but harassment."

Pushkar Raj of the People's Union for Civil Liberties, who was in Goa to express solidarity with Sebastian, said that such "convoluted judicial moves" were only a sign of things to come.

"This is a bad precedent and needs to be handled effectively. This suit is against an activist today. Similar cases could also be made out against journalists in the future," Raj warned.

Writer activist Venita Coelho said that the defamation case was not the first attempt by the mining lobby to pin down Sebastian and his blogs.

According to Venita: "Their vice president of corporate communications, Sujay Gupta, did his best to have Seby labelled as a Naxalite some months ago. The falsehood led to red faces in the administration and among the opposition."

Gupta said: "Neither I nor the company would like to comment on the matter right now", as long as the matter was in court.

Mining has always been a contentious issue in Goa. The recent infrastructure boom had virtually quadrupled demand for iron ore, which triggered rampant illegal mining, leading to several conflicts between the mining industry and villagers living on the outer fringes of mining tracts in the Goan hinterland.

Tree : A poem by Rajendra Rajan : Translated by Shaleen Kumar Singh

It happened so often in my childhood
That someone pointed out
'You have swallowed
The seed with the fruit
So a tree will grow inside you'

Inside me any tree grew or not
I don't know
Because I didn't confer to anyone ever
Any shadow, fruit or whisper of spring

But when today I
Saw a young tree being cut
I listened within me
A green-flourishing shriek
A terror-stricken shriek
Burst out of me

Whether My shriek was heard by anyone or not
I don't know
Because I didn't grow like a tree inside others

Because to anyone I never conferred
Any shadow, fruit or whisper of spring

Rajendra Rajan
Translation : Dr. Shaleen Kumar Singh

पेड़

छुटपन में ऐसा होता था अक्सर
कि कोई टोके
कि फल के साथ ही तुमने खा लिया है बीज
इसलिए पेड़ उगेगा तुम्हारे भीतर

मेरे भीतर पेड़ उगा या नहीं
पता नहीं
क्योंकि मैंने किसी को कभी
न छाया दी न फल न वसंत की आहट

लेकिन आज जब मैंने
एक जवान पेड़ को कटते हुए देखा
तो मैंने सुनी अपने भीतर
एक हरी – भरी चीख

एक डरी – डरी चीख
मेरे भीतर से निकली

मेरी चीख लोगों ने सुनी या नहीं
पता नहीं
क्योंकि लोगों के भीतर
मैं पेड़ की तरह उगा नहीं

क्योंकि मैंने किसी को कभी
न छाया दी न फल न वसंत की आहट.

- राजेन्द्र राजन .

Kunwarnarayan's Poem

Kunwar Narayan is the senior most contemporary Hindi poet.He has been awarded with India's most prestigious literary award Gyanpeeth this year. Here is a poem written by him along with its translation into English.The translation is done by young English poet Dr. Shaleen Kumar Singh.


क्या फिर वही होगा
जिसका हमें डर है ?
क्या वह नहीं होगा
जिसकी हमें आशा थी?
क्या हम उसी तरह बिकते रहेंगे
बाजारों में
अपनी मूर्खताओं के गुलाम?
क्या वे खरीद ले जायेंगे
हमारे बच्चों को दूर देशों में
अपना भविष्य बनवाने के लिए ?
क्या वे फिर हमसे उसी तरह
लूट ले जायेंगे... हमारा सोना
हमें दिखाकर कांच के चमकते टुकडे?
और हम क्या इसी तरह
पीढी-दर-पीढी
उन्हें गर्व से दिखाते रहेंगे
अपनी प्राचीनताओं के खण्डहर
अपने मंदिर मस्जिद गुरुद्वारे?
-कुंवरनारायण
Some other poems by Kunwarnarayan.

English Translation :

Shall it happen again
What we fear?
Shall it not happen
What we expected?
Shall we be sold again like always
In the Markets
A slave of our own follies?
Will they buy and carry our children
To foreign lands
To make their own future
Will they again grab us like always,
Rob us... Our gold
Luring us by the glittering pieces of glass
And do we like this
Generation after generation
Proudly show them
The ruins of our ancestry
Our temples, Mosques, Gudwaras?
( Original poem in Hindi by Kunwarnarayan,English translation by Dr. Shaleen Kumar Singh )

Stop abuse of media in elections Petition

Stop abuse of media in elections Petition

Rights groups cry foul

Rights groups cry foul



Staff Reporter



‘Doctors being made scapegoats’






BHUBANESWAR: Human rights activists and anti-displacement leaders on Saturday demanded that the State government should dismiss senior officials who were responsible for ordering the three doctors to chop off palms of tribals killed in police firing in Kalinganagar area.

Sympathising on doctors’ agitation to revoke dismissal proceedings against three doctors, three organisations, Lokshakti Abhijan, Samajwadi Jana Parishad and CPI (ML) New Democracy said that doctors were unnecessarily being made scapegoats.

“ The government led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is the main culprit in whole incident.

Not a single government official barring doctors was suspended in the incident of police firing that led to death of 14 tribals,” said Prafulla Samantra of Lokshakti Abhijan.

Pointing out that doctors came to the scene only after death of tribals, Mr. Samantra said, “former collector, Superintendent of Police and senior government officials of Jajpur district who were responsible for firing have let off.

A judicial inquiry which was instituted to probe the case has also been weakened.”

Similarly, Lingaraj from Samajwadi Jana Parishad said doctors were under pressure from senior administrators to do the chopping of palms.

He ridiculed the approach of State government to deal with issues associated with the gory incident.

Many tribals had become handicapped in the firing but instead of extending them a free treatment, State government had ignored the matter, Mr. Lingaraj said.

The activists said this was an attempt of State government to divert attention of people from the main issue by picking up doctors.







Courtesy
© Copyright 2000 - 2008 The Hindu

An open rejoinder to Mr Shashi Tharoor

From: S Faizi [mailto:ecology@dataone.in]

Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 10:13 AM

To: 'tharoor.assistant@gmail.com'

Subject: Coca Cola/Plachimada: An open rejoinder to Mr Shashi Tharoor

From: S.Faizi, R2 Saundarya Apartments, Nandavanam,

Thiruvananthapuram, biodiversity@rediffmail.com (Environmental Expert Member: Kerala Groundwater Authority. Chairman: Indian Biodiversity Forum)

Mr.Shashi Tharoor, Chairman, Afras Ventures, 230 Park Avenue, Suite 2525, New York, NY 10169

Dear Mr Tharoor,

I have read with interest your response to the Plachimada Struggle Solidarity Committee’s criticism of your being in a PR project of the Coca Cola company in India, in The Hindu and the full text on a web site that carries your PR material. I do not have a grain of opposition to your being in the cola PR outfit, for it is natural for people like to you to be in places like that. However, I am writing this public response to you in order to address the misinformation contained in your letter, outdoing even the PR staff of the company, and the unwarranted sweeping remarks you have made on Kerala development.

The High Court Division Bench verdict in favour of the company that you have referred to was made subsequent to a single bench verdict against the company. And the Division Bench verdict is being challenged in the Supreme Court by the Perumatti Panchayat and by the people’s groups agitating against the company. The CWRDM-lead report was flawed in many respects, as is being argued in the SC, which is also an issue of concern for CWRDM scientists as the institution has suffered an erosion of credibility. The very assumption of the report, in estimating the total groundwater availability in Chitoor block, that 20 per cent of the rainfall can be recharged is flawed as the Central Groundwater Board’s (CGWB) assessment in 2003 had put the recharge in areas such as Chitoor at 5-8 per cent. While the committee report put the annual recharge in the block at 74.1 million cubic meters (mcm), based on the CGWB’s scientific estimation of recharge rate it is only between 16.6 to 33.2 mcms. The report also suppresses the domestic and agricultural water needs. The central question in the High Court case was not as much about pollution and depletion of water resources, land pollution by heavy metals, or the right to life provision of the Constitution, as about the power of the local panchayat to ask for the closure of the factory. The Groundwater Dept, in a report on the groundwater of Palakkad dist prepared in 2006, presented an alarming picture of the state of groundwater in Chitoor block.

The legal status of groundwater has rightly become that of a public resource with the enactment of the Kerala Groundwater Act which came into force in 2003. However, this law (as well as several other points from the environmental jurisprudence) was not considered in the High Court case. Groundwater was considered as a private resource, while the said law asserts it as a public resource over which the appropriate agencies of the State have control in public interest. And this change in the legal status of groundwater is also going to be examined by the apex court.

You attempt to deny the toxic sludge. However, the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee (SCMC), in its report following its site visit in August 2004, had determined the presence of heavy metals (cadmium and lead) in the sludge, and this was distributed by the cunning company to the unsuspecting farmers as ‘fertiliser’. And the State Pollution Control Board had directed the company to cease operations. The pollution of the well waters around the factory was reported by independent labs and the SPCB also confirmed it by asking the people not to use the water of the panchayat well it had tested.

I visited the area two weeks ago as a member of the expert committee attached to the State SC/ST Commission and found the situation of the local people, ST/SC in particular, extremely worrying- there is hardly any water in the wells and where it is present it is not usable. Pollution of drinking water is a crime under the SC/ST (Atrocities) Act.

On 14-9-2004 the company agreed to provide piped water to the residents of the area and the KPCB had constituted a committee to oversee this activitiy. This was upon the instruction of the SCMC, obviously as a compensation for the water crisis caused by the company and it was not contingent upon the functioning of the factory. The company reneged on this agreement too.

Polluter Pays Principle has become an integral part of our jurisprudence. The Rio Declaration (principle 16) upholds this as well as the liability and redress provision of the Biodiversity Convention (I had been a negotiator in the formulation of both), among other multilateral soft laws and treaties. And this is squarely applicable in the case of Coca Cola at Plachimada. This was why the Kerala Goundwater Authority, after study by a subcommittee, recommended to the govt at its 13th meeting in Oct 2008 that compensation should be obtained from the company, on behalf of the people, for the pollution and groundwater depletion it has caused. It also recommended to make a comprehensive, multidisciplinary assessment of the damage caused by the company to the environment, human health and agriculture. Bringing an offender to justice is in the best common interest of business lest the law abiding competitors are left at a disadvantage.

Your reference to the Global Compact was interesting. But you have carefully withheld the information from your readers that this was a project that was fiercely opposed by the civil society organizations. It was not a legitimate UN activity, negotiated and agreed by a policy setting body such as the GA. It was part of a series of initiatives to diminish the importance of the need for corporate bodies complying with the domestic laws of the countries, by introducing and promoting a voluntary code of conduct. It was also part of the move to whittle away the powers of multilateral bodies such as UNCTAD, supported by the developing countries. As a corporate boss you will be proud to have promoted the Global Compact, but its real twin role as a greenwash and as a means to belittle the importance of legal compliance is obvious to the public. Corporate responsibility is a crooked term, what the citizens expect from the corporates is corporate accountability to the laws of the country. If Coca Cola, for example, is willing to comply with the laws of the country, pay for the public resources it has used at the market rate and pay compensation for the damages it has caused that will more than suffice,

As for your remarks on Kerala’s development scene, it was certainly uncalled for. Kerala is one of the most globalised societies in the world, and we were at the centre of open global trade until 500 years ago when the Europeans came as savage invaders displacing the Arab traders. Your accusations of Kerala as ‘over-politicised’ and this as a reason for an imaginary discouragement of investment in the state are amusing right wing cliché that fit very well with the intellectual immaturity that characterizes your writings. It is an insult to India’s unity that you are ashamed that Keralites work in other parts of the India. It is diametrically opposed to the spirit of Kerala’s globalism that you are ashamed of our people working in the Gulf and other countries. But you are saying this sitting in an American city and heading a business firm in Gulf. And you claim to be a Keralite when your web site proudly announces your fluency in English and French but does not even mention Malayalam though our language and its literature has a longer history than English. But such contradictions are typical of an intellectual simpleton’s writings. The Kerala model of development is an unavoidable term in the international development discourse, not the least the UN’s, but you are blissfully uninformed even about this. In child mortality, for example, we fare better than the US city you live in.

Empowerment thru political conscientisation is at the core of the relatively high development indices we have achieved. Your understanding of India, as seen in your writings, is no deeper than a western tourist’s.

Let me refer to just a couple of such writings. In one of your articles you have chauvinistically chided Indian women for giving up sari for western dress. Even such chauvinistic opinions I have no problem in tolerating but the fun is when you see the photo of the author of the silly article dressed in western suit and neck tie totally alien to traditional male attire! And in a subsequent article you narrated an anecdote where your Danish boss in the UN abused the Indian kurta you wore as a surgeon’s coat and that made you resolve not to wear the traditional Indian dress any more. As a committed supporter of the UN cause and as a some times participant in UN events, I take offence in the incident you narrated and your acceptance of the same. As a multilateral body the UN respects the multiple cultures, and if someone derogatively talked about a country’s traditional dress he should not have been on the UN staff any longer, if someone had set a norm like that it should have been brought to the attention of the concerned decision making body. UN events indeed are also the occasion you find the most fabulous traditional dress of women and men from west African nations, the various Arab traditional dresses from Morocco to Yemen, the elegant sheravni, sari and churidar from south Asia, and so on. I myself presided over a youth conference organized by Unesco/UNEP in Moscow in 1987 (part of Tbilisi+10) wearing a white cotton kurta/pyjama, and nobody cared about what I wore (I wouldn’t have allowed it either). And your sectarian mindset blamed the Punjabis for giving masculine names for their daughters, forgetting that what you have done with your own name isn’t anything different. Sasi is how the masculine name is spelt in Kerala while Shashi, the way you spell it, is a feminine name in north India!

Your reply talks of the anti-Cola activists scoring some political point. No one can read any party politics in their letter, the Plachimada anti-Cola struggle is beyond divisions along party politics. The ruling LDF supports the Plachimada cause as much as the opposition UDF. And in the struggle itself you find people of all political affiliations and creeds. We are all one on the issue of justice, but you cannot perhaps understand that. But if you are talking about politics with your ambition to get a seat in the forthcoming Parliament election in view, I wish the Congress party gives you a ticket, for it deserves you. That will be a good self punishment for the Congress party for having allowed you once to embarrass the country with your UN election.

Best regards,

S.Faizi

Tribals plan to stop Vedanta vehicles

Date:12/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/12/stories/2009011255210800.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Other States - Orissa

Tribals plan to stop Vedanta vehicles



Staff Reporter



Niyamgiri Bachao Samity conducts meet





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meeting also attended by other activists supporting the agitation

Over 7,000 primitive Dongria Kondh tribals live in the region


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



BERHAMPUR: Members of the Niyamgiri Bachao Samity (NBS) on Sunday held a meeting at Sakata under Muniguda block in Rayagada district to plan their future plans to oppose mining in the Niyamgiri hills in south Orissa.

Around 1,000 delegates from villages to be affected by proposed mining in the Niyamgiri hills from Lanjigarh block of Kalahandi district and Bisamkatak, Muniguda, Kalyansinghpur blocks of Rayagad district participated in the meeting. Most of them were members of Dongria Kondh community, one of the ancient tribes of the country.

The tribals decided to stop entry of vehicles and officials of both Government and Vendanta Alumina Limited (VAL) into the Niyamgiri area. “We have also vowed not to allow construction of new roads in the remote Niyamgiri area which will facilitate mining in the region at the cost of the environment,” said Dongria tribal leader Jitendra Jakesika. The NBS has decided to hold a large tribal rally at Muniguda in the second week of February as a show of strength against the proposed mining in Niyamgiri area.

This meeting was also attended by environmental activist, Praful Samantra, Samjawadi Janparishad leader Lingaraj Azad and CPI-ML (New Democracy) leader, Bhala Chandra Sarangi, who have extended support to the agitation.

The Niyamgiri hill range houses dense forests, wild animals with ample bio-diversity. As per the official records 7,987 primitive Dongria Kondh tribals live in this region. From this region emerge the Rushikulaya and Nagavali rivers of south Orissa. It may be noted that the VAL is setting up an alumina refinery at an estimated investment of over Rs. 4,000 crores in Orissa. The construction of refinery unit is complete.

This refinery is to depend on ores mined from Niyamgiri region. But the mining has been delayed due to court cases and protest by green activists

The legal stumbling blocks in the path of mining in the region have got removed. Yet the stiff opposition of the locals of around 104 tribal villages to be affected by this controversial mining project has prevented start of mining work. Since Nov 10 last year the tribals have not allowed the VAL officials to enter the region and start construction of wider road for movement of heavy vehicles needed for mining work.








© Copyright 2000 - 2008 The Hindu

Hooliganism in Karnataka : Gandhiji

[ The correspondent had referred to a charity
show for Indians organized in Dharwad by a sympathetic(to non-cooperation movement) European lady. The original
idea of a play by Indian schoolgirls had been changed at the guardians' instance into a
programme of singing and recitations. During and after the entertainment a mob of
young men, instigated, the correspondent alleged, by non-co-operationists, had
stoned the organizers and guests. Source : Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi ]

HOOLIGANISM
The columns of Young India are open to all who have any
grievance against non-co-operators. ‘One who knows’ has sent to the
Editor a letter which I gladly publish. He has in a covering letter
giving his name pleaded for the publication of his letter. Such
pleading was unnecessary in connection with a matter of public
importance. If the facts related by the correspondent are true, they
reflect no credit on the young men of Dharwad. The correspondent
has connected the incident with non-co-operation. It is the fashion
nowadays to connect every incident of indecent behaviour with

non-co-operation. I wish that the incident had been brought to my
notice when I was at Dharwad. I would then have been able to,
investigate the matter and deal with it then. I may state that stones were
thrown at a meeting of Dharwad students that was held by me in the
open. One boy narrowly escaped being seriously hurt. And it was a
pleasure to watch the audience remaining unmoved in spite of the
stone-throwing. I was told too that stone-throwing at meetings was not
an unusual occurrence at Dharwad in connection with the
non-Brahmin movement. I state this fact only to show that Dharwad
enjoys the unenviable reputation for stone-throwing in a special
manner. I must therefore decline to connect the incident either with
non-co-operation or with any anti-European movement. Though the
correspondent’s letter is obscure on the point, it is evident from what
he says that resentment was felt at the idea of girls taking part in a
drama. The correspondent says that the drama was dropped “in the
nick of time at the desire of the guardians”. There must have been
persistence to provoke resentment.
But my position is clear. No amount of provocation could
possibly justify the hooliganism of the “mob of young men’. They
had no right to prevent the performance that was at last determined
upon, if the guardians of the girls did not mind it. The truest test of
democracy is in the ability of anyone to act as he likes, so long as he
does not injure the life or property of anyone else. It is impossible to
control public morals by hooliganism. Public opinion alone can keep
a society pure and healthy. If the young men of Dharwad did not like
a public exhibition of Dharwad girls on the stage, they should have
held public meetings and otherwise enlisted public opinion in their
favour. The movement of non-co-operation is intended to check all
such abuses. Non-co-operationists are undoubtedly expected, not only
to refrain from taking part in such violent scenes as are represented to
have taken place at Dharwad, but they are expected also to prevent
them on the part of others. The success of non-co-operation depends
upon the ability of non-co-operationists to control all forces of
violence. All may not take part in the programme of self-sacrifice but
all must recognize the necessity of non-violence in word and deed.
I am surprised that the correspondent in his covering letter
speaks of the hooliganism at Dharwad in the same breath as the
massacre of Jallianwala Bagh. He loses all sense of proportion when
he compares the cold-blooded and calculated butchery of innocent
men, who had given no provocation, with the undisciplined and
thoughtless demonstration of a “mob of young men”, who were

labouring under a fancied or real wrong. Both acts are worthy of
condemnation. But there is as much difference between the
programme of the Dharwad boys and the Dyerism at Amritsar as there
is between an attempt at simple hurt and a completed murder.
Young India, 1-12-1920
Gandhiji.

Peaceful bandh in South Odisha

Issue Date: Tuesday , October 14 , 2008
Peaceful bandh in 5 districts
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Bhubaneswar, Oct. 13: Normal life was paralysed in five southern districts, including Kandhamal, as the Left parties — CPI(ML), CPI(ML) New Democracy, CPI(ML) Liberation, SUCI and Samajwadi Jana Parishad — today observed a dawn-to-dusk bandh protesting against communal violence.

Vehicles stayed off the roads and shutters were downed at various places in Gajapati, Koraput, Rayagada, Kandhamal and Ganjam districts, where the parties had called the bandh.

Security measures were tightened as bandh supporters blocked roads at several locations in the districts.

Schools and business establishments remained closed while transportation was affected.

“The bandh passed off peacefully and there had been adequate arrangements to avoid any untoward incident,” deputy inspector-general of police (southern range) R.P. Koche said.

At Phulbani, shops were closed and vehicles kept off the roads at other places, including Daringbadi, Bramhanigaon, Raikia, Tumudibandha areas.

The 12-hour bandh was called demanding compensation to the victims, arrest of the accused and release of the innocent.

The ripple of the bandh was felt at Rayagada, Gunupur, Padmapur, Muniguda, Gajapati, Kashinagar, Guma and Parlakhemundi where protesters blocked roads and burnt tyres. CPI(ML) state secretary Khitish Biswal claimed that the bandh was “a total success”.

Courtsey The Telegraph

POSCO has been ousted

POSCO has been ousted declare thousands of villagers at Balitutha
2nd April 2008

Yesterday people from various parts of the state joined thousands of villagers of Dhinkia, Gada Kujang and Nuagaa to hold the Bikalp Samabesh at Balitutha where the adminstration had imposed Sec 144 for weeks and gave a clear signal to the the state Government that the majority of the people in the area were still opposed to the much hyped POSCO project. Earlier in the morning about three hundred people, mostly farmers, coming from sponge iron affected areas of Jharsuguda were detained by the police. At the same time more than one thousand people from Sukinda, Berhampur, Kalahandi, Jharkhand and other parts of the state and country reached the area and broke all police barricades to take out a massive and formidable rally upto Balitutha where they joined thousands of villagers of Dhinkia, Gada Kujang and Nuagaa who have been protesting against the porposed POSCO project for more than two years now under the banner of POSCO PRATIRODH SANGRAM SAMITI.

The rally then decimated all bamboo barricades put up by the police who tried to intimidate the five thousand plus strong assembly by pointing their machine guns at them, enraging the people, especially the women who then chased away the police to make way for the Bikalp Samabesh. At that point it seemed as if a Kalinga Nagar like disaster was inevitable but good sense prevailed over the administration and the police stepped back and maintained distance. As a symbolic protest against the heinous crude bomb attack by goons at women protesters at Balitutha on Nov 29 last year when their tents were set on fire, the people dismantled one of the police tents to spread it for the leaders to sit upon. The Samabesh was attended by leaders of the Left parties and many activists, all of whom gave fiery speeches and boosted the morale of the villagers who have been facing severe state and mafia repression for many months now.

Abhay Sahoo of POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti warned the administration and police not to step the line as people had reclaimed their freedom in a democratic manner despite all attempts by the state to contain it by force. He said that the ruling Govt.'s attempts to merge POSCO foundation day with Utkal Divas (Orissa Formation Day) had been foiled and 'the motherland's birthday had retained its sanctity'. He then announced that the disobedience of Sec 144 and the successful Bikalp Samabesh was a clear indication that 'POSCO had been ousted'. He warned that if the state continued with pursuing the POSCO project in the area then 'the agitation would increase by many folds'.

Other speakers spoke briefly but strongly against the state's anti-people measures in implementing the POSCO project. They also criticised the project itself to be not viable and would spell the end of life and livelihood for thousands in the region. Those who had come from Jharkhand and other states confirmed that the whole nation was supporting the cause of the villagers of Ersama block who were opposed to the POSCO project. Support from Korea was also extended to the protest in the form of letters from the Korean Human Rights Commission and the Korean Steel Workers Union who condemned the state repression and also exposed POSCO misdeeds in Korea where it functioned in a similar manner using muscle power and greasing palms when required.

The meeting was also well attended by various sections of the press including some foreign journalists. The Samaj, a leading newspaper of Orissa has reported today that a team of women Maoists had sneaked into the area the night before referring to a team of media persons from New Delhi. The Times of India also indicated at a biased stance on the issue by terming the protest meet 'A Damp squib on All Fools Day' in the headlines completely undermining the symbolism of Orissa's people defying state terror at the behest of a foreign company on Orissa Formation Day. It must be noted that POSCO had taken journalists from all these publications on a foreign tour and such biased reporting has become a regular feature with them. For instance many leading dailies have slowly manipulated facts to present the bomb attack on Nov 29 to be carried out by pro-POSCO villagers and not goons. Nevertheless, people continue to fight for their life, livelihood, land and liberty.
Surya Shankar Dash
Independent Media

Letter to Chief Justice of India

To
The Honorable Chief Justice of India
Supreme Court of India
Sub: Appeal for Justice to the Primitive Dongria Kandh Tribes of Niyamgiri, Orissa
Honorable Sir,
This is with reference to the case of Bauxite Mining by Vedanta in the Niyamgiri Mountain in Orissa which is awaiting judgment from the highest court of the country. You may be aware that for generations this mountain has been protected by the primitive Dongria Kandh tribes, for whom it’s the sacred mountain of “Niyam Raja.” The mountain has been the lifeline with rich biodiversity for the habitat surrounding it.
This Mountain is now facing the danger of bauxite mining by the Vedanta Company which will cause forced eviction of thousands of primitive tribes. After three and a half years of deliberations at various courts and commissioned studies showing the detrimental effects mining would cause to the mountain and the primitive tribes, it seems that the company will get a go ahead for mining.
This would prove fatal to the primitive tribes and the Niyamgiri Mountain. This is also to mention that in the entire court proceedings held so far, no scope has been provided to the tribals to present their side of the story although ample time and space seem to have been given to the company itself - thereby violating the ‘right to be heard’ of the tribals.
For example, in the last court hearing on 26 October 2007, the lawyer representing the tribals was snapped at by one of the judges in your presence and was never given a chance to present the 200-odd page objection to Vedanta’s mining report.
Presenting below a synopsis of the process for your reference:
It was on the 22nd of September 2004, that the Vedanta Alumina Ltd was accorded Environmental Clearance for its MTPA Alumina Refinery at Lanjigarh. This was challenged by three petitioners i.e Wildlife Society of Orissa, Prafulla Samantray and the Academy for Mountain Environics before the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) constituted by the Supreme Court.
One of the major grounds of challenge was the fact that the Environmental Clearance was granted on a wrong premise that no forest land was involved, whereas in actuality forest land was involved both for the mining component as well as the Refinery. However, Vedanta Alumina Ltd concealed both these facts while seeking environmental clearance for the project. This is a criminal offence.
The CEC appointed a fact finding team to visit the area in December 2004. The Fact finding report confirmed the fact that forest land was cleared in violation of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. It also raised crucial question as to why environmental clearance was granted before the grant of forest clearance to the project.
During the series of hearing before the CEC, the Vedanta Alumina Ltd kept changing its stand. Initially it stated that its refinery plant is independent of its mining project in Niyamgiri and therefore should be considered as an independent project. Later, it changed its stand and stated that the mining project is integral to the project and without it the refinery will be meaningless.
This was not the only instance. The issue of forest land in the Refinery was another instance where the Company shifted its stand. The Environmental Clearance did not state that 58 Hectares of forest land was involved in the project. However, during the pendency of the case, Vedanta sought permission under the Forest (Conservation) Act for use of these 58 hectares of forest land. Suddenly, doing a volte face, they took the stand that they do not require the 58 Hectares of forest land even though the entire area was located within the refinery. An application to this affect was sent by the Government of Orissa to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on a Sunday and the MoEF approved the same the very next day. According to the CEC Report the same was done at an ‘Unusual speed”.
The CEC on 21st September 2005 filed its report to the Supreme Court. It was perhaps the strongest report ever to the Supreme Court. It specifically recommended for the revocation of the Environmental clearance to the Refinery. The CEC made strong observation on the functioning of the State, it stated “the casual manner, the lackadaisical approach and the haste with which the…”
When the report was placed and heard by the Supreme Court almost 6 months after the CEC filed it, the MoEF accepted the fact that the studies were not complete and informed the court that the Wildlife Institute of India and CMPDI will be entrusted with the task of ascertaining the impact due to the proposed mining. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) submitted its report which highlighted the immense significance in terms of biodiversity, water and for the tribals. The CMPDI which is a subsidiary of coal India ltd concentrated on the mitigation aspects.
The Supreme Court started hearing the matter from May 2007. It is pertinent to point out that despite the recommendation of the CEC, the work on the Refinery was completed by the time the issue came up for hearing. The company could thus present a fait-accompli situation.
In the hearing in May, the Government of Orissa, MoEF and Vedanta Alumina and CEC through the amicus curiae were all allowed to speak. The only people not allowed were the three petitioners. When the advocate representing the petitioners rose to speak, the bench stated “NO NGO’s in this case”. Thus the NGO’s who were responsible for bringing up the case were reduced to mute spectators.
The CEC on the orders of the Court submitted a Supplementary report and reiterated its earlier position, that mining should not be permitted and that it would amount to ‘sacrilege if the same was permitted.’
The Supreme Court in its order on May 2007 sought details of other alternative mining sites. The Government of Orissa took the stand that no alternative site exists. Later, the CEC did point out that sufficient alternative sites do exist.
The Supreme Court enlarged the scope of the Petition in September by directing the MoEF to file a report on the impact on forest and tribals if mining takes place in Koraput and Kalahandi. The MoEF took the stand that mining positively impacts the environment as well as the tribal people!
At this time a Writ Petition was filed on behalf of the tribals, the Supreme Court directed that the Writ Petition be numbered as an Intervention Application and the Applicant were permitted to file written objections to the Report of the MoEF. The Applicant filed a detailed 200 page objection.
On the final day of hearing on 26 October 2007, every party was allowed to argue except the one representing the tribal interests. Not even a minute was granted in the one and half hour of hearing to the Petitioners. The hearings are now over and the Judgment Reserved.
In sum, this is a case where:
The Supreme Court is refusing to accept the fact that the Company in connivance with the State has violated all the environmental laws even in the face of irrefutable evidence.
The concealment of information on the existence of forests as well as de-linking of the mining and refinery is still to be highlighted.
The CEC has clearly held that undue favor has been granted and the functioning of MoEF and Government of Orissa does not inspire confidence.
In spite of the clear fact that tribals will be affected, the Court refuses to hear the tribals whereas it continuously hears the company.
The Court is relying on evidence of the State of Orissa and the MoEF in drawing up its conclusion on the impact on mining although these are the two agencies accused of undue favor to Vedanta.
The Court seems to be proceeding on the idea that grating 5 % of the profit will ensure that all wrongs are undone.
It is in this context, I/we would like to request you to re-look at the case before the final judgment is given. It is extremely crucial to uphold the tribals’ ‘right to be heard’ and I/we hope that you would protect the rights of the marginalized and the primitive tribes in this case.
Thanking you.
Yours sincerely,
Aflatoon,
State President,Samajwadi Janaparishad (U.P.)
[ Those who agree are requested to send similar letter ]

People's Movements salute a true socialist Jugal Kishore Raibir

National Alliance of People's Movement

We share with a heavy heart the sad demise of our beloved leader and comrade Jugal Kishore Raibir. A highly revered social activist, a very close friend and comrade of people's movement, Jugal Kishre Raibir, passed away on November 6 th' while battling the rare type of leukaemia.

People's movements all over India and more so in North Bengal, have suffered a great loss. In his various roles as a Dalit Activist, a Social leader and the president of Samajwadi Jan Parishad, he will be sorely missed by everyone involved with people's movements.

He was a very active and close comrade of NAPM and was a guiding force.

Though being the founder president of a political party- Samajwadi Jan Parishad, Jugal Da, as popularly known among activists had never compromised on people's movements for electoral gains. Being an ardent Lohiawadi, he believed in people's power and people politics. His involvement in various movements spanned a wide spectrum right from the JP movement to language movement of Dr. Lohia to farmer and Dalit movements.

As a very active Dalit leader in North Bengal , he founded a strong UTJAT Organisation with values of non- violence when the Naxalbari Movement in the same area was on its peak. UTJAT advocated rights of Dalits and Backward class people in an aggressive manner. To advocate the cause of marginalised people, especially Dalits and backward classes, he worked effectively to bring various radical left parties and people of other ideologies together on a common platform.


Jugal Da believed in the tools suggested by Lohia and advocated that struggle, construction, electoral political and ideological communication should go hand in hand for bringing about social change. He gave up all his resources including land for the reconstruction and alternative development and established a Janata Kendra Centre in Adivasi areas of N. Bengal. The Kendra played a frontal role towards experimenting on various alternatives including agriculture.

Above all, he was a human being of great virtues and despite being busy and involved; he gave utmost importance to human and personal relationships.

He was a passionate human being with no-nonsense nature and a mature leader who always believed in solidarity and collective actions. He was a simple man practicing Samata, Sadagi and Swavalamban with a lot of sensitivity and sensibility. No one will be able to fill this great loss but we are sure his life will inspire us and always guide us in the path of struggle.

NAPM team salutes our great Comrade and leader

Aruna Roy , Gabriele D., Medha Patkar, Mukta Srivastava, P Chennaiah, Sandeep Pandey, Sanjay M.G. , Sr. Celia , Ulka Mahajan

Jugal Kishore Raybir passes away

Shri Jugal Kishore Raybir, the National President of Samajwadi Jan Parishad and a leader of autonomy movement in North Bengal passed away in teh morning of 6 November at Jalpaiguri. A bachelor and full time political activist, he was 61 and was suffering from Lukemia for the last three months.

Shri Raybir was one of the few dalit activists in contemporary India to have founded and led several organisations with support cutting across social spectrum. He began his political life in his college days as an activist of the socialist movement in India and contested asembly election as a Janata Party candidate in 1977. In the 1980s he led a major social and political movement of the dalits and advisis of North Bengal under the banner of UTJAS (Uttar Bango Tapsili O Adivasi Sangathan). This was one of the few attempts to bring dalits (mainly sons of the soil Rajbanshis) and advisasis (mainly migratns from Jharkhand) together. Jugalda was convinced that peoples movements cannot have a future unless they connect with one another and become more political in their orientation and strategy. To this end he was instrumental in establishing many organisations. He was one the founders of the Janandolan Samanvaya Samiti (1991, a coordination of various Janandolans from across the country), the founder-President of Samajwadi Jan Parishad (1995, a political party committed to alternative politics and model of development) and the inspiration behind the formation of Swayattashasi Sangram Manch (coalition of seven organisations in north Bengal for regional autonomy) and Samata Kendra (an experiment in alternate living, an insitution founded near his village on land donated by him).

Jugalda stood out in the politics of north Bengal for highlighting the regional deprivation that the region suffered from, for focussing on teh conditions of dalits and adivasis wihtout giving up the aspiration to bring together all the sections of society and for demanding a solution in terms of regional autonomy rather than in ethnic terms. He stood out among the dalit leaders for his attempt to combine Ambedkar and Gandhi, for his attempt to build social coalitions and for his insistence on interrogating the received model of 'modern' and 'industrial' development. His politics stood out for its commitment to democratic and non-violent means in the face of repression unleashed by the state and the ruling party in West Bengal.

Mortal remains of Shri Jugal Kishore Raybir were kept at Samata Kendra for thousands of his comarades, followers and well wishers to pay their last respects. Many of his colleagues from different parts of the country joined his last journey alongwith hundreds of people form the region. The National Alliance of Peoples Movements, Orissa Krishak Sangathana, Sampoorna Kranti Manch Haryana, Kisan Adivasi Sangathan MP joined Medha Patkar and Gopal Krishna Gandhi, Governor West Bengal is sending condolence messages on his demise.
-- Yogendra YadavSenior FellowCentre for the Study of Developing Societies29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110054

People's messenger is gone

It shocks you and shatters you down when the first message, as you set down to start your working day tells you that Sanjay Sangvai, a people's messenger, author of River and Life: a historical narration of people's struggle in the Narmada valley, is no more. He passed away at 7 am on May 29 th, 2007 while undergoing treatment at the Nature Life Hospital at Kochi run by Jacob Vadakkanchery.

Sanjaybhai, a frail bodied person with an unflinching commitment to be with people's struggle, was a people's messenger who penned numerous Press Releases and articles in English, Hindi and Marathi, and spread the news of ups and downs of struggles to a larger world. In two decades long struggle, there were also moments when he gripped pen to write obituaries on his comrades – Shobha Wagh from Domkhedi, Bhaijibhai from Canal affected Undva village, Kiritbhai Bhatt of PUCL, Baroda – and he wrote them pouring his heart out. I can't control my tears at the idea of having to type an obituary on him.

In the two decades long struggle, I had known and interacted with him for last five years, years when "one after another illnesses kept paying visits", as he put it while chatting a few months ago. I had met him first time on January 26 th, 2002 – the day when Mumbai Samachar reported Narendra Modi announcing in Rajkot about Gujarat's efforts to lobby with PM to raise the Narmada dam height from 95 to 100 metres before monsoon – travelling with him in local train to a hurriedly organised press conference by NBA. Last time when he appeared online, I pasted a news clip that said Narmada Control Authority meeting was scheduled on May 3 rd. "were they meeting to decide raising the dam height from 121 to 138 meters?" he asked wearily. He also talked about the Marathi book he was working on and I queried him on the need to bring out third revised edition of River and Life. He said, he wished, but "one after other illnesses kept paying me visits".

He was a source of inspiration, was always connected with people's struggles, and didn't let his ill health affect activism. Although trained as a media professional, after a short stint with teaching career - when he worked as a lecturer at the University of Pune – and as a journalist with mainstream Marathi daily, he immersed himself into Narmada Bachao Andolan as a full time activist in 1989. He wrote extensively in English, Hindi and Marathi on issues and political processes of Narmada and other such people's struggles. I don't exactly know whether he wrote in Gujarati, but every time we met, he used to speak in Gujarati while recalling the aborted discourse over Narmada in Gujarat and narrating anecdotes.

For last couple of years, he was closely observing the struggles against Special Economic Zones, land acquisitions and related injustices through his association with NCAS, Pune

His book River and Life starts by depicting tribals, peasants and activists celebrating the new year with mixed feelings of hope, anxiety, apprehension and will to fight in Nimgavhan, a submergence village on banks of Narmada in Maharashtra; even as in the cities the rich and mighty went dizzy on the night of December 31, 1999. Eight years later, when someone sent him an e-mail wishing sunlight, joy and prosperity on the last eve of 2006, he replied; "Thanks for the best wishes. But for many people the year started with the deprivation, displacement and destruction - be it in Narmda, Singur, Delhi or any number of things. It is good that we all want sunshine and prosperity etc. And surely, it is we who would get that.

Sorry for the melancholy inevitable -

I sing the same song,
cutting each time
nearer to the aching heart."

Himanshu Upadhyaya.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The reality of Orissa's iron ore mines, where the promise of prosperity is just empty rhetoric- Felix Padel

Work apace on Jindal's 9-km-long pipeline along the road to Deojhar to draw water from the Baitarani river. The State Water Department had asked the company to stop the work and government officials initially insisted that all work had stopped. But later they said the matter was under litigation.

Hundreds of hectares of forests have been lost to mining over the years in a situation where encroachments are impossible to monitor. The most common illegality is to continue mining long after the lease has ended.

AS the shadows lengthen on Keonjhar's main street, the tube-lit sign above Hotel Arjun flickers to life, illuminating both the entrance to the hotel and the cigarette seller next to it. A traffic policeman walks up to the crossing right outside the hotel and assumes his position at what is the most significant crossing in town.
Fifteen kilometres down the road, the ground shivers as a queue of trucks, over a kilometre long, shudders to life. Engine after engine revs up as several hundred trucks begin the next stage of their 325-km journey from the iron-rich Keonjhar district in north Orissa to Paradip port on the east coast. This has been the practice ever since the District Magistrate issued orders prohibiting truck movement between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Further up, the highway narrows into the first of many bottlenecks, and branches off, capillary-like, into un-metalled paths that lead into the heart of the district's iron ore mines.
Across the Baitarani river, in Joda, Barbil, Deojhar and Thakurani, the low mountains are illuminated by high-powered halogens, as work continues at a relentless pace in the mines - visible as raw, red gashes on the otherwise thickly forested mountainside.
The source of an estimated 35 per cent of India's total reserves of haematite, Orissa produced more than 46 million tonnes of iron ore in 2004-05, of which three quarters came from Keonjhar. Almost all of it was, and still is, carted away in nearly 30,000 trucks from the 119 mines that dot the district.
The trucks move north from Joda, to the Jharkhand border where they supply ore to Jharkhand's rapidly expanding steel industry, and northwest to Haldia port. But the majority move south through Keonjhar town towards Cuttack and cut through to Paradip port, from where the ore is shipped in containers to one of the few countries that have a bigger appetite for steel than India - China.
Initially seen as the engine of an independent India - the first "swadeshi" steel mill was completed in 1920 by the Tata Iron and Steel Company at Jamshedpur in present-day Jharkhand just across the border with Orissa - it was cast into the shadows by the shining "new economy" of the 1990s.
A five-year rally in international prices has seen the iron and steel sector make a strong return on the business pages of newspapers.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pointed out in his keynote address at the India Steel Summit 2007: "In the last five years, the production and consumption of steel has grown at rates exceeding 9 per cent per annum. The pace of growth has further accelerated in the current year to over 10 per cent."
The recently formulated national steel policy has set the production target for 2020 at 110 million tonnes of steel, and a doubling of the present capacity from around 40 million tonnes to 80 million tonnes by 2012.
A buoyant national economy and a booming construction sector are expected to add to the optimism in the steel sector, and nowhere is this felt more than in the office of Padmanabha Behera, Orissa's Minister of Steel and Mines and Planning and Coordination. "We have signed 45 MoUs [Memoranda of Understanding] till date," he told this correspondent, "and production has already started in 23."
The Minister foresees a resurgent Orissa, propelled forward by his party's mantra of "progress through industrialisation". Behera believes that Orissa's future lies in using its vast mineral wealth to generate employment and, of course, create wealth. However, not everyone in the State shares this vision.

Privilege and corruption

To understand Orissa's trucks is to understand how privilege and corruption operate along dense, intricate networks where the legal and the illegal often overlap, making it impossible to make a concrete accusation. After all, what is an illegal mine? How can it be identified?
"It is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that the Union should take under its control the regulation of mines and the development of minerals to the extent hereinafter provided," states the preamble to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, one of a raft of laws and bylaws passed to govern the mining sector.
First enacted in 1957, and amended almost every four years up to 1999, the MMDR Act serves as the central axis on which mining law is framed. The Act classifies minerals into "minor" and "major" lists, lays down procedures for the granting of reconnaissance permits, prospecting licences and mining leases, and classifies violations and encroachments. While States have complete control over all minor minerals such as clay, gravel, sand and building stones, major minerals such as iron ore come under the purview of the Central government. For such minerals, Central permission is required prior to the granting of licence.
Apart from the MMDR Act, mining is subject to The Mines Act of 1952, the National Mineral Policy (amended in 1994), and a slew of laws concerning land acquisition and environmental assessment.
Acquiring a mining lease for a major mineral like iron ore or coal for a particular area is relatively easy now. The process has been simplified over the last 10 years, a development that has coincided with the liberalisation of the mining sector. Mining leases are granted on a `first-come, first-serve' basis, and the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy of 1999 allows for "up to 100 per cent foreign direct investment" in the mining and processing of minerals other than diamond, precious stones and atomic minerals. Thus, mining occupies a unique governmental space that is simultaneously highly legislated yet remarkably free of constraints for mine operators.
Under the laws governing mining, mines could be declared "illegal" on a number of grounds, the most obvious being that of mining in an area without applying for a lease. However, the pressure of rapid industrialisation has forced State governments to curb such practices.
Illegal mines
"No illegal mining is possible without political patronage," says a senior officer in the Directorate of Mines, "and local politicians have realised that the land occupied by illegal miners can just as easily be handed over to giant corporations for similar favours." This is not to say that outright capture of areas for mining has stopped entirely in the iron belt. The most common examples of illegal mining occur on the boundary of legality, where the violator can claim a degree of innocence on the basis of ignorance of the law.
The most common form of illegality is to continue mining long after the lease has expired. A document obtained from the Directorate of Mines under the Right to Information Act provides a complete list of mining leases in Keonjhar. According to the Directorate's own figures, dated December 31, 2005, as many as 52 out of 119 mines, or more than 40 per cent of all mines in Keonjhar district covering 52 per cent of leased area, operate illegally on expired licences. Of these 52 mines, 10 belong to the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC), a government-owned enterprise, and operate on 7,051 hectares (1 hectare = 2.47 acres) or a fifth of the total area under mining in the district.
Many in the industry argue that the issue of expired licences is not an indication of corruption per se as the government has been dragging its feet for years over their renewal. The failure to renew leases, particularly those held by a State-owned corporation, seems inexplicable until one unpacks the terms of the mining lease.
As pointed out by Ritwick Dutta in a compilation titled "Undermining India", the renewal of mining leases in forested areas has been the subject of much litigation since the enactment of the Forest Conservation Act of 1980. Given that most mines, including those in Keonjhar, fall within the purview of this Act, the key question was whether the renewal of a mining lease required fresh permission of the Central government. The Supreme Court, in successive judgments, particularly in State of Tamil Nadu vs Hind Stones in 1981 and Samatha vs State of Andhra Pradesh in 1997, has ruled that the renewal of a mining lease is actually the grant of a fresh lease. Thus, a good reason for mining companies and associated State officials to go slow on the renewal of leases could be that, theoretically, the company shall have to reapply at the time of renewal and would be subject to monitoring by the Central Pollution Control Board, the Ministry of Environment and Forests and a host of other agencies.
Forest Act and mining
The Forest Conservation Act mandates that the Central government shall after careful examination of the proposal denotify forest land earmarked for mining and the mining company shall be subject to a series of restrictions to minimise the ecological footprint of the mine. It is also a useful tool to ensure that the mining companies stay within the areas allotted to them. Of course, the Forest Act, like any other Act, is only as good as its implementation.
Another document from the Directorate of Mines lists 40 mines in Keonjhar that are operating without clearance from the Forest Department; the OMC, once more, is one of the worst violators. District Forest Officer P.N. Karat says that as of February 2006 all such cases have been dealt with. However, this assessment is impossible to verify independently. In the absence of firm leases, many companies have been granted temporary licences, most of which are issued without guidelines or monitoring.
The absence of adequate monitoring is probably the most disturbing feature of the industry in Orissa. The highly technical language adopted by both the mining companies and the state effectively silences any local articulation of opposition by people directly affected by the projects. Thus, people's testimonies of a change in the colour of groundwater, an increase in the cases of asthma and respiratory conditions and a drop in the fertility of their fields are discounted in favour of Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) readings collected by the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) and the findings of groundwater studies conducted by the State Groundwater Board that pollution is present but is within the mandated safety limit.
Barbil, to cite just one example, is a small town in the heart of the mining belt where it is difficult to breathe freely even during the day when the trucks do not run. But a study obtained from the SPCB states that the SPM readings in Barbil are "only" 456 micrograms per cubic metre against a reference value of 500 micrograms per cubic metre for mining areas, and so is acceptable. However, the Central Pollution Control Board reference value for "residential and rural areas" - which villages outside the mines are - is 200 micrograms per cubic metre and for a reserve forest, which could be classified as a "sensitive area" under the SPCB guidelines, it is 100 micrograms per cubic metre. Thus, the same arbitrarily fixed "standards" used to declare mining areas "pollution free" can just as easily be used to declare them unfit for human habitation.
Similarly, the only way to verify if a mining area corresponds to the area mentioned in the mining lease is to either refer to detailed contour maps in the possession of the government (and hence unavailable to the general public) or physically plot the coordinates of the mine using a global positioning system (GPS), which no one in Orissa has access to. Such opacity on the part of all privilege-holders in the system makes its impossible to level definite accusations against any party. But, as in all camouflaged sites, in Orissa, too, the veil slips occasionally to offer a glimpse of the arrogance of mining corporations vis-�-vis the law.

Road to nowhere

The road to Deojhar, as with most roads to hell, is paved with the best of intentions. Ostensibly built to connect Deojhar village to the highway under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana Scheme, it has turned out to be a useful way to connect the mines to the national highway.
Few villagers use this road; there are too many trucks. Of late, the trucks plying on the Deojhar-NH 215 route have had to contend with more than just crater-size potholes - a fleet of bright orange earthmovers engaged in digging deep trenches along the road. These vehicles have been employed by the Jindal company, a consortium of companies with interests primarily in iron, steel and power, to supply water to their 2,000-hectare iron ore mine in the hills above Deojhar village.
"Jindal is laying a nine-kilometre pipeline to draw water from the Baitarani river," says Arjun Saraswat, deputy general manager of Sarda Mines Private Ltd., the company that possesses the lease for the Jindal land. "This water will be made available through the soon-to-be-completed Kanpur dam project." At the time of this article going to print, the digging was almost complete and pipes two feet (0.61 metre) in diameter had been laid along a stretch of 4.5 km.
But has Jindal acquired the necessary permissions for this pipeline?
"The Jindal company's demand for water has been approved `in principle'," says Harish Behera, Engineer-in-Chief (Water Resources) for Orissa. "But the technical parameters are to be worked out. No permission has been granted for any pipeline and, as of now, no project work has begun." Behera is responsible for the allocation of water resources for the entire State, but seems to be unaware that the pipeline work has not only begun but is nearing completion. When confronted with photographs on the project work taken by this correspondent, he said "the matter is currently under litigation".
What sort of litigation? For answers, one is directed to C.V. Prasad, Chief Engineer, Project Planning and Formulation, of the Orissa Water Department (Irrigation). Prasad is more forthcoming. "Jindal has been allotted 1,500 cubic metres of water an hour, drawn in a phased manner, from the Baitarani river project, but the project is still awaiting technical clearance. As of now, the construction is in violation of the law," he says. Prasad adds that his office has written to the company several times asking it to stop construction, most recently on January 16. "We were under the impression that construction had stopped."
Granting a project approval "in principle" is no indication of its merits or demerits; those are only evaluated in the technical approval stage when a detailed project report (DPR) is submitted. "In principle" approval only indicates that the company may go ahead and prepare a DPR. If Jindal's pipeline does not pass muster the company will be forced to remove it. In going ahead with the project, it believes, perhaps, that government approval is a foregone conclusion or that such approval is of little importance.
The Baitarani pipeline also begs another question. At present, where is Jindal drawing its water from? Deputy general manager Arjun Saraswat admits that Jindal is currently drawing water from borewells in their area, but is unwilling to quantify the volume of water drawn every day. "It is only used for domestic purposes," he says. However, officials at the SPCB office in Keonjhar reveal that Jindal uses a 10-kilolitre truck to carry out water sprinkling three times a day in the mining area, that is, 30,000 litres of water a day just for sprinkling.
Apart from this, the scale of the mining operation, with most of the permanent workers living in the mining area, suggests a reasonably high rate of water consumption even for domestic purposes. Even Jindal probably does not know how much water it uses because none of its tubewells is metered. However, one group of people has a fair idea.
Deojhar's sorrow
Down the road from the mines, the residents of Deojhar have seen their streams dry up, the water table fall and the soil lose its fertility in the six years since Jindal began operations. "The very basis of village life has fallen apart since the project began," says Sridhar Nayak, a leader in Deojhar. The crops have died, there is no place to graze cattle, people cannot collect firewood in the project area and the handpumps yield foul, yellowish water. Nayak says the inevitable dust that any project breeds has severely affected the health of the residents, particularly the young, among whom the number of cases of lung congestion has increased.
When the project first began, protests were quelled by a combination of cajoling and coercion. A significant police presence was backed by promises of jobs, economic regeneration, security and "progress". Needless to say, none of it has materialised except, of course, the police, who regularly show up in impressive numbers to threaten `errant' residents.
The promise of prosperity - schools, hospitals, jobs - is usually the classic argument used to justify the well-documented horrors of mining. Minerals are a country's natural wealth, a gift from Mother Nature, a precious resource crucial to a nation's progress. The booming international market for metals has also cast mines and minerals as earners of valuable foreign exchange. It is hard to unpack the cold, hard logic of capital and corporations without sounding like a hopeless rural idealist. However, the people of Orissa are now asking who the beneficiaries of the mining sector really are. What if mining did not benefit the people it affected the worst?